Sundial



March 7, 1933.

F. LO RIA J 17 SUNDIAL Filed March 15; 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 7,1933.. LQRIA 1,900,117

SUNDIAL Filed March 13; 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 7, 1933. i F. LORIASUNDIAL v Filed March 13, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet a March 7, 1933. F. LORIASUNDIAL Filed March is, 1928 '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 7, 1933 ma-STATES PATENT sewer FRANCESCO LORIAQOF ROME, ITALY sUnDIAL Applicationfiled March 13, 1928, Serial. No. 261,335, andin Italy January 14, 1928.

The Sundial in accordance with the present nventlon is provlded' with ahearing which permitsit to be easilysetup or taken to pieces, and whichpermits setting it promptly t Fig. 1, which showsthe goniometer and the.55

f to the necessary latitudeand properly orientating it with'respect tothe meridian of the of which indicates the time from December I place.This bearing is also provided'with a device which permits correcting theposition of the sundial in order to permit itto coincide with themeridian, ofanother place. I

All these operations required till now a long time and above all aknowledge of the cosmography, whilst with the sundial in accord ancewith the present invention the operations may be carried out in a shorttime,owing to the simplicity of the device;

As the hour lines at theaverage time are curved like the form of thefigure .8, whose widest part reaches a space of more than minutes, theconsequence is thatthe signs of r the quarters of an hour, and alsoofthe halves of an hour, would intersectone another and thus produceconfusion. In order to avoid this inconvenience the'present inventionpro-- vides the use of two series of hour indicia, one

21st to June 21st and the otherthe time from June 21st to December 21st,Each of these series is formed by two circular plates having the form ofa cup, whose-hour lines may be applied on each face of the disc. whichconstitutes the sundial,'so that for each one of the two faces there aretwo plates. One plate will bear for instance the hour 'llIlQS'fIOIIlMarch 21stt0 June Qlstand the other, the hour lines fromtlune 21st toSeptemberZlst. In the same'way another plate will bear the indicationsfrom SeptemberQlst to December 21st, and the last plate will bear'thehour lines from December 21st to March 21st.

The invention will be understoodfrom the following specification, whichrefers to the annexed drawings 111' which:

w 1 Fig. l-is a front view of'the universal sundialin accordance withthe inventlon, whlch 1s supposed to be placed vertically, viz. at theEquator with theplate marked for the period from March 21st to June21st. 1

Fig. 2 is an axial section of the sundial sup- I posed to be inclined atthe latitude of 42.

{Fig.3 is a sea view of the sundial with the plate niarkejd for theperiod from une 21st to September 21st.

the line AB of Fig. t is 'as'ection along pointer orsetting the sundial'under the meridian used. I

Fig. 5 is aplan in accordance with the section C1.D;of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 isa partial view on In the Northern Hemisphere the two platesMarch 21stSeptember',2lst must beplaced on the upper face of the disc,and the other two, September 21st.;to March, 21st, on the lower face.The contrary must be done if the sundial is set up in the SouthernI-Iemisphere. v p

The apparatus is'made up of atriangular base -1 to be hired on supportsor pillars made 'with, bricks, stone, iron or Wood and which carries-atits centre a pin 2-whose end is threaded and't'o' which a nut 3 isscrewed in order toseoure'in place a frame to be fixed I on a plate orsupporting member 4 after this plate has been placed exactlyhorizontally.

In the c'entreof said. frame is arranged a shaft or uprightbearerrj,which may turn on its axis and which carriesin equilibrium at its top,in 5, an arm 6 which is fixed to the disc? 'ofthe sundial. The centre ofthe disc 7 is crossedby a stylefl8 which extends nor- '90 1nally-to"thetwo'faces of the disc,"and on these faces,as well as on the inclinedborders 9, 10 of the disc, arearranged plates onwhich are marked thehours, the halves of an hour and the three qualrtersof'anhour, at theaverage time,'which are indicated exactly'by the shadowofthe style. v Inorder to set up the apparatus it is before all necessary to'place thetriangular base'l onitsbasement, taking care that one of the the sideofthe 60 Sundial, which shows the goniometer'for setangles be directed byapproximation north. 4

towards The frame is then put in place by introducing the plate 4 uponthe pivot 2 of the base and by directing the point towards the north orthe south according to circumstances. T ienut 3 is put on the pivot 2without screwing it completely up; the plate t is perfectly levelled inall directions and afterwards the nut 8 is screwedup until it adheres tothe plate 4. When this has been done the shaft 5 is placed into theframe and on this shaft is arranged the disc 7 already provided with itsseason plates.

In order to place the sundial at the latitude of the place one proceedsas follows.

If the geographical latitude of the place is known, it is suiiicient toturn the disc 7 on its pivot 5, until the corresponding degree marked onthe goniometer 16 arranged on the arm 6, coincides with the axis of theshaft 5.

Figs. 2 and 6 represent for instance the sundial at the latitude of 42.The disc is then fixed by screwing up the two screws 17 17 near theshaft 5, until the two segments of circle 16 are fixed firmly to thesaid shaft.

When the latitude of the place is not known 7 the disc must be directedtowards the sun and at midday it must be put in such a position that theshadow of the style fails on the day circle corresponding to the day ofthe operation. For instance, if the day is April 13th, the disc must beput in such a positlon that the shadow of thestyle falls on the circleof- April 13th. When this has been done, the sundial is placed at thelatitude ofthe place and the goniometer 16 will give the correspondingindication. I

, In order to place the sundial under the meridian, one proceeds asfollows.

The slate 11 with its small rod 12 is put on the south part'of theplate, and after having' levelled it in every direction, from a smallhole13 which is arranged in the upper part of the rod 12 a plumb 14 isdropped in a vertical direction and the resulting .point is marked. Thispoint is taken as the centrefor describing two or three arcs of a circleas large as the slateallows. One now observes when the ray of light projccted by the small hole crosses each one of these arcs by passing intoand out of the area of the slate, and in the spots thus obtained pointsare marked. The two points of every are are connected by a line andthese lines are divided at their centre and from these points a line isdrawn passing through the vertical from the small hole and this line isthe meridian line of the place. On the following day, when the ray fromthe small hole is about to approach to the meridian line, one observesit and when it is exactly on that line, one arranges so that the shadowof the style in its turn falls exactly on the NS line of the disc.Afterwards the binding clamp 15 must be screwed up at the foot of theshaft 5 and the sundial will be fixed under the meridian of the place.

In order to place it under the meridian of another place, it issufficient to displace it by as many degrees as it is away from thefirst place. The scale 18 placed on the upper face of the frame servesfor this purpose in co operation with the hand 19 fixed to the shaft 5.It is to be noticed that if the meridian of the new place is eastwardthe displacement is to be made towards the eas't, whilst if the meridianof the new place is westward the displacement is to be made towards thewest. r

In sundials of great size, the day circles on the different circularplates'may be marked for every day, instead of for a period of days, asfor the sake of simplicity it has been shown on the drawings, and inthis case the sundial may also form a calendar.

What I claim is: i v

1. In an instrument of the class described, a supporting member, anupright bearer upon said member, an arm mounted for tilting adj ustmentupon the bearer, two cup-shaped discs mounted upon the arm at their axesand in opposition to each other, the relatively re ;mote faces of thediscs bearing indicia indicating hours and fractions of hours, the

angular adjustment of the arm permitting.

either disc to be positioned to receive rays from'the sun, a style atthe axes of the discs projecting at its end portions beyond. the thefaces of the disc whereby to provide for the casting of its shadow,under the sunlight rays, onto the'respective face ofthe respective disc,the bearer being rotatable for adjustment of the discs in accordancewith the adopted meridian, and means for holding the bearer in itspositions of adjustment.

2. In an instrument of the class described, a supporting member, anupright bearer upon said member, a disc mounted upon the bearer forangular adjustment wherebyit may be inclined in accordance with thelatitude of the place where the instrument is to be used, the discbearing upon its face, indiciaindicating hours and fractions of hours, astyle' positioned axially of the disc to cast its shadow, under sunlightrays, on to the face of the disc the bearing being rotatable foradjustment of the disc in accordance with the adopted meridian, meansfor holding the bearer in its positions of adjustment, a slate mountedupon the supporting member opposite the bearer, and a plumb suspendedabove the said slate. I

3. In an instrument of the class described, a supporting member, anupright bearer upon said member, a cup shaped disc mounted upon thebearing member for angular adjustment whereby it may be inclined inaccordance with the latitude of the place Where the instrument is to beused, the bearing member rotatable, means for holding the member inpositions of rotative adjustment, means in juxaposition to the bearingmember and bearing a scale concentric to the axis of rotation of thesaid member, a pointer carried by the said bearing member, the discbearing upon its face, indicia indicating hours and fractions of hours,and a style positioned axially of the disc to cast its shadow, undersunlight rays, on to the face of the disc.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

FRANCESCO LORIA.

